1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to reaction vessels with heating and cooling capabilities, and more particularly to such vessels having cooling units which uniquely rely upon phase change coolant injection. Preferred embodiments also include preprogramnable systems.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following patents are representative of prior art related to various types of heated/cooled reaction vessels:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,894,881 to Clinton M. Wolston, Jr. et al. describes a laboratory distillation testing apparatus having a condenser tank, a flask, a flask supporting means, a heating means, a condenser tube passing through the said tank, and a light diffusing panel, the improvements which comprise a recess in said condenser tank, a shield means disposed within said recess, adjustable shelf means carried by said shield means for supporting said flask, conduit means below said tank, and solenoid valve means on said conduit means, the discharge end of said conduit means projecting forwardly of the rear wall of said recess below said condenser tube inlet and arranged to discharge forwardly and downwardly towards said shelf means.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,432 to Joseph C. Rhodes et al. describes an apparatus for controlling the operation of a first distillation column and for determining the distillation properties of a product sample from said first column which apparatus comprises: means for withdrawing a product sample containing a mixture of liquids having different boiling points from said first column; a test column member; a plurality of liquid-retaining trays spaced apart vertically within said test column; a liquid sample container positioned below said test column and in flow communication with the bottom-most portion of said test column; means for receiving said withdrawn product sample and introducing a known amount of said product sample into said container; means for vaporizing liquid sample introduced into said container; vapor riser means for passing vapors from the lower portion of said test column upwardly through said test column to intimately contact liquid retained on said trays; condensing means communicating with the upper end of said test column to condense all the vapors rising from the upper-most of said trays; means for returning the resulting condensate to the upper-most of said trays; means for maintaining the test column pressure at a substantially constant pressure during a run; means for maintaining a pre-selected level of liquid on said trays; temperature sensing means to sense the temperatures and produce a temperature signal indicative thereof of equilibrium vapors above the trays in said test column; means for receiving said temperature signal and correlating the sensed temperatures with the distillation properties of a known product sample of approximately the same composition as said sample being run and produced an output signal relative to said correlation; and means for receiving said output signal and adjusting the control parameters of the first column in accordance with said output signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,387 to Charles Meriam describes an inclined-manometer-type of fluid characteristic measuring instrument which is responsive to pressure sensing for directly reading volume, weight or velocity of flow, or differential pressure across a flow measuring orifice, nozzle, venturi or laminar flow element or for directly reading static head, velocity head or total head fluid pressure. Adjustments are provided for correcting the instrument reading measurements for variations in fluid measurement conditions, including temperature of, density of, viscosity of, barometric pressure on, humidity of, mixture of fluids in, etc. of the fluid being measured; temperature, etc. of the manometer liquid; etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,479,252 to Kurt Anders Holm et al. describes an invention which is concerned with an apparatus for degreasing articles by means of a boiling solvent or vapour originating therefrom. The apparatus has double walls, and cooling means which are provided between said double walls. The cooling means comprise water spraying means, and means for passing ventilation air through the space defined by said double walls. Consequently, the venilation air has the double function of withdrawing solvent vapour and cooling the wall of the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,264 to Jury V. Redikultsev et al. describes a device for sterilizing water-containing liquid media by steam which comprises a sterilizing vessel with inlet and outlet connections for processed liquid media. A heater is provided in the lower portion of the vessel, while a condenser is arranged in the upper portion thereof The vessel also houses a coaxially mounted steam-transfer unit representing gas-lift tube with a diffuser disposed over the heater.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,730 to Georg Zemp describes a temperature regulating apparatus for a laboratory reaction vessel arrangement, which comprises a reaction vessel and a thermal chamber for a fluid heat exchange medium which at least partially surrounds the reaction vessel. A jacketing vessel is provided with at least one inlet aperture for said fluid heat exchange medium and at least partially surrounds the thermal chamber. The at least one inlet aperture is arranged to extend through the jacketing vessel and into the thermal chamber, and a nozzle is arranged in a region of the at least one inlet aperture. This nozzle has an outlet orifice and is arranged in the region of the at least one inlet aperture such that the fluid heat exchange medium flows through the nozzle and out of the outlet orifice and such that the fluid heat exchange medium flowing out of the outlet orifice subsequently flows into said thermal chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,067 to Takeshi Tomizawa describes a portable cooler for cooling an article by utilizing the endothermic and exothermic phenomenon pertaining to a chemical reaction which is disclosed, in which an adsorbent and a working medium are sealed in a reaction chamber defined between an inner wall and an outer wall, a working medium retaining member which is disposed on the inner wall inside the reaction chamber for holding therein the working medium, the working medium retaining member being spaced from the adsorbent disposed on the outer wall, and a heater is held in contact with the adsorbent for regenerating the same, at least a part of said outer wall constituting a heat radiating portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,806 to Josef Trunner describes a bath in which the supply reservoir is arranged for the liquid, in which the reaction flask to be heated or cooled can be immersed. The heating or cooling device is arranged on the bottom of the supply reservoir. The liquid is delivered with an immersion pump through a feed pipe and an opening in the bottom of the bath The level of the liquid in the bath can be adjusted with the aid of a slider. The liquid flows back into the supply reservoir over an overflow. When the pump is switched off, the liquid in the bath flows independently back into the supply reservoir.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.
A reaction vessel system which includes a reaction vessel, a cooling unit functionally connected to the vessel to impart controlled cooling thereto; a heating unit functionally connected to the vessel to impart controlled heating thereto; and, control means connected to the cooling unit and the heating unit for programmable automatic control of the cooling unit to control at least one of on/off flow and rate of flow, and to control at least one of on/off heating and rate of heating, including a programmable device. While single cooling units, heating units, control means, etc., are described above and below in the singular, it should be understood that plural components, such as two or more cooling and/or heating units may be included without exceeding the scope of the present invention.
The cooling unit includes a cooling element in proximity to the vessel with at least one inlet port for injection of a phase change coolant, a heat absorbent area and at least one outlet port for removal of the phase change coolant; and injection means for injecting the phase change coolant in liquid form via the inlet port to the cooling element. In preferred embodiments, the control means includes software, and the system includes an injection means physical control device, for cyclical on/off control thereof to establish a predetermined temperature sequence involving a plurality of diverse, programmable temperature levels. The phase change coolant used in the present invention is an environmentally inert material which absorbs heat upon vaporization and has a boiling point below room temperature (e.g., below 24xc2x0 C.) at atmospheric pressure, and may be selected from the group consisting of inert gases, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Preferably, there is a remote reservoir which contains a phase change coolant in a liquid state under pressure. The system also includes at least one and preferably two temperature sensors connected to the vessel with feedback to the microprocessor for automatic temperature control adjustments.